Newbie today. Have the JBL BLUES; Please advises

I aplogize in adv forbthis lengthy post ....
I finally made the update from 07 Tundra CM to an 18 Tundra Platinum CM today. Took 14 hour round trip to Ohio to get this rig and I nearly turned around an hour into my ride home to see about returning it because of a defective JBL stereo system. I really thought truck had an issue. Im on max vol on HU and BT from phone and It didnt even cause RV mirror to shake. This system is utterly horrid and im so disappointed that Toyota would allow such an inferior system in such a superior trim model. Ughhhhhhh
Ive been poring over the web since i got home to see what the remedy is for this and there is such a plethora of suggestions that I honestly dont know where to begin. I now realize that I am not capable of doing most of these mods offered in forum myself to get this system up to par with its said trim level. This system is ALL SIZZLE BUT NO STEAK. I have a very reputable audio installer in my hometown who I think Ill hand this over to, to get it up to my standards. And with that said this is my chief question:
In what manner should I approach this installer so that I do t get taken for a ride. Im not suggesting they would do this but I do realize that a few of you have made some great strides in getting your jbl’s to sound good and Id like to make the suggestion to them and see where that goes. Its quite possible this installer is well aware of the issues and may have a premade and priced out solution they are doing for all JBL systems. I have heard that the speakers in this stock system are decent and i may not need to update those. My understanding is that the amp (in conjunction with the head unit) is the real issue. Should I expect to add an additional amp and processor or is it not that simple ? I test drove a Titan with Rockford Fosgate as stock system and that system was awesome! But I couldnt divorce the Tundra which has been so good to be in past 10 years. Can someone also give me a ballpark range in a “you will invest $300 (on low end) and up to $900 (high end) to get the RV mirror to rattle.”
i am perfectly capable of getting into the doors and into sub to upgrade speakers but hope to avoid screwing with amp adjustments, complex wiring, bridging, ...etc.
any and all suggestions are GREATLY appreciated fellas!!!

 

I was in the same boat as you, the day I drove my 18 home. I went with a package put together by the legendary James Randy Taylor at tech12volts. He’s super helpful, and his prices are unbeatable. I ended up ditching the Alpine head unit and went back to the stock head unit and DSR1. Put me back somewhere around 1k.

 

Budget will obviously dictate your path. I spent a bunch of time trying to get that pos head unit to work with a JL Fix 86 processor. In fact I even wrote a “how to” on getting t it to work. Granted this can be done if you don’t want to go head unit. But it will come with some different annoying problems. 1st. You will have it calibrated at a single volume level...say 46. From that moment on any time you adjust the head unit volume you are no longer calibrated till you get back to 46.
2nd. The thing doesn’t come with a volume knob. So you have to purchase it extra.

If you are ok with this it will work awesome. At this point you can spend enough money on speakers and amps to vibrate every body’s RV mirror.

If I was to start a new audio build the first thing would be HU.

Just my .02.

 

Guess I’m the minority - I’m perfectly happy with CarPlay and my JBL system. Had JBL in my 2008 as well, and it was plenty loud and clear for me there too.

But I’m also not an audiophile or a stereo geek either.

 

Thank you both for your follow up. I have alot of mods and add ons i want to do on this rig so $1k is about 2x my limit And will live with it for now (or ill buy 4 jbl flips synch together, and spread out in cab) which would blow away the stock system. No joke. What a lackluster effort Toyota put into this! That Titan had alot more technology in their rigs than toyota but cant build an overall truck like the Tundra. Thx again guys. Your efforts are much appreciated

 

I was very disappointed also, i went with a Phoenix android HU and a single sub from James (should have got two). It sounds great compared to stock. I'm sure someday the stock speakers will blow and will be giving James a call when that happens.

 

Tech12volts...maybe a little pricey but worth it no doubt

 

I had between 6-8k in my last stereo. This one is stock and will probably stay that way.

A simple fix you can do to improve it would be use the usb cable and not Bluetooth.
My 2011 Tacoma w JBl was easily 2-3x’s the output of these Tundras.

If the worst thing we get is stereo I’ll take it.

 

Pardon my rudeness....Welcome from Oregon!!

post up some pics when you get a chance.

 

Yup, when I purchased my 2018 Platinum CM, I too was really bummed about the crap audio. And, all the cash that I had on hand I wanted to put into lift, wheels and tires. So I had to put off swapping out the ENTIRE system for a little over a year. But, in hindsight, IT WAS WORTH IT! New head unit, door speakers, sub box, subs and two amps. Now, it rocks! Of course, I did all of the installation myself, but it was worth it. Like others here, James at Tech12Volts helped me out as well. He built my "behind the seat sub box" and was super cool about answering all of my questions. Regardless, we are here to help you! You tell us what you are wanting to do and your budget, and we can help you come up with something that you will be happy with!!

Oh, and welcome from TEXAS!!!!

 

Was the 2nd gen stock JBL any better? I don’t have anything to compare my 2008 to but it has an alpine Aftermarket HU with the stock JBL system and sounds decent. Nothing impressive but not terrible

 

Indeed! Had leveling kit and other custom add ons that are now on hold or system is on hold. BTW: Do phone calls through this system only broadcast on driver side? Sounded like it today during call i took on ride home??
I emailed James tonight and hopefully can get a few ideas on cost to start saving for.
God Bless Texas!!! Thx for the reply!

 

Go DUCKS!! Thank you!

 

Oh no!!! $6-8k?????

 

Very detailed reply and many many thanks for spending your time on me. Im now quite embarrassed that i stated wanting to spend $500 on this upgrade. I think was an additional “0” short on my hopes...lol.

 

I have a friend that builds all the custom vehicles for radio stations, wholesale stuff, show vehicles etc etc. He gets pretty expensive. The one thing he wanted to do was my head unit and I didn't want to spend the extra money. I should have.

I must have missed that $500 budget thing. My bad I was smoking dinner and drinking. The HU is the problem with a couple things. First weak volume. Then you add amps, speakers and some subs and all of a sudden you have the low volume hiss. This is why I said I would start there. Then maybe you can get a package from James or just swap the factory amp. I am not that familiar with either of those options. Just know that they are common.


I am not a football fan....however my wife's family is divided. One brother was a duck and the other brothers oldest was a Beaver. I just

 

Also from JRT, two JL subs, box and 500w JL amp, kept head unit.

 

If you can get rid of the factory headunit, jbl amp. Replace both with aftermarket radio, bypass factory amp and replace with aftermarket amp. That alone will increase the quality of your music.
The jbl in our 2017 sequoia is no better, sounds really muddy. Even with the bass all the way off, it still sounded horrible.
Here's a break down of what i spend so far and im still on factory 2ohm speakers.
1. Android radio-------$344 shipped
2. Pioneer gm-d9705-----$191 shipped used
3. Kicker 2.75" dash speakers----$44 shipped
4. Polk db 8" dvc sub------$85 shipped (Crutchfield)
5. Knukonceptz 4 gauge ofc amp kit----$55 shipped
6. Audiopipe line driver----$26 shipped
7. 3 set of rcas-----$15 shipped
8. Board of blown pvc for amp rack 12x24---$14 shipped

Total: $774

I also purchased but not yet use, are speaker brackets and speaker adapter harness. Roadkill foam rings front and rear.
Those ran an extra $86

Grand total so far: $860

Im waiting for when the hertz k170 and k165 goes on sale so i can snatch them up. Currently they are at $99 each set.

The audiopipe line driver may not be necessary but since my android radio only put out up to 2v rca max, i wanted something that will boost the signal up to 5v. So the line driver did that.
Not needed if you have a quality headunit like the mainstream brands, they already put out 4v.

So you can see, it adds up quickly. You get near that 1k in no time. I didnt do it all at one time. Space it out slowly gathering parts.

So far im happy with how the stock speakers are performing. The radio and amp really wakes them up. Clear sounds, bumpy bass. For now I'm content. If the factory speakers blows, i will upgrade them later.

 

The reality is to figure out what you can do with your budget and what you want in the end. Yes you can piece it over time to get where you want, knowing the limitations of each of those changes. You won't find any installer to meet your budget, it is a labor intensive process even for small changes. I'm another one that just finished a full 12 volt install and couldn't be happier with the finished product. A good place to start is to have that conversation with the installer you're thinking of using and layout a road map on what it will take to get to the end game to do it in pieces.

 

1400 I think. I kept my head unit and replaced everything else including 2-10's, all from Tech12volts. Very happy with it, 40-45 is as loud as I've taken it (goes to 60) super clear and clean sounds. I have zero issues with the factory head unit.
If I couldn't swing the whole thing I'd do the amp first and replace the speakers as I went.

Only issue I had is it came with zero instructions and I got the feeling like I was bothering James with questions BUT it was through emails so maybe not, maybe I was irritated. I was almost done and found some pics here that really helped and then Justbass reached out with some more info.
Its a shit ton of labor, theres a reason guys charge so much.

 

I dont mind doing the labor part but am NOT capable of tuning amps and flashing devices. I put a shout out to James lastnight and hope we can come up with a plug n play deal and where he sends The necessary items preprogrammed. I did speak with my local audio installer today who was well aware of this jbl issue and gave me a quote of $1500 to do everything except HU. Labor and tax included. Thx pal for the kind reply!!!

 

You don't have to worry about that with the Tech 12 Volt system. The DSR was flashed and setup, I haven't changed a thing on it, parameters were already set. As far as the AMP, its flipping a few settings and turning screws to clock positions to pass through the DSR signal. Plugged it in and "Boom", sounded great out the door.

 

It's been about 5 or 6 months since I swapped out my system, but I do NOT remember Bluetooth phone call audio output only on the driver side. It was balanced right to left.

 

You won't have to do anything except some stuff on the amp, super easy.

Include sound deadening in your cost. It makes a huge difference even if your not doing the stereo and you're going to have it all apart anyway.

 

Unless you're an audiophile or hardcore stereo guy in past vehicles, the JBL should be fine. The subwoofer is a little disappointing, I will admit.

Since you just got it, and I had mine for at least a month before figuring this out...you need to set up the equalizer for EACH SOURCE. So if you're on bluetooth/XM. etc, make sure you have the EQ set up on each one. It made a huge difference. I was beyond disappointed, but after I corrected it I'm only like.."ehh...it's better than the base." Shove all the sliders to the right and you're volume will increase drastically.

 

You could also look into OEM Audio Plus as well. True plug and play and way less intrusive install.

 

This is promising! Where is the equalizer? I see none on HU options. Only the usual bass, treble and mid. I actually put fade to rear only and put a hard bass hitting song on and heard ZERO bass coming from sub. I mean NOTHING!! This cant be right.

 

Yeah, where is this EQ you speak of?